Clamping mechanism for pressing machines



June 17, 1930. I c, PAULY Er AL 1,763,816

- CLAMPING MECHANISM FOR PRESSING MACHINES Filed June 16, 1927 Patented June 17, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 ROBERT C. PAULY, 0F CINCINNATI, AND STUART NOTTAGE, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, AS-

SIGNORS TO THE AMERICAN LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI,

OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO vCLAMIPING MECHANISM FOR PRESSING MACHINES Application filed June 16,

This invention relates to laundry presses and particularly to tail clamping apparatus for use in connection therewith.

-The present invention, while being applicable to almost any shirt press, is particularly adaptable to the scissors type wherein a bed. is arranged lengthwise across the front of the operator and a swinging head, of substantially the same size and shape as the bed, is arranged to be moved down into engagement with the bed in the pressin operation.. When these presses are use for ironing shirts and the like, one end of the bed or board is provided with a neckband support adapted to support and clamp the neckband of a shirt, for example, in upright position so that it may enter a suitable neckband recess formed in one end of the head. It is customary for the operator, after sup porting and clamping the neckband, to stretch the bosom over the board and then hold the tail of the-shirt by some suitable means. The means employed in this case is in the form of a strap or band of spring metal hinged at the back of the Work board below the bed and movable lengthwise of the bed,.and securable at the front of the bed to the work board in any suitable position having reference to the length of the shirt or article operated upon.

The invention will be specifically disclosed in the following description, drawings and claims and other features of the invention will be brought out in connection with that disclosure.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the invention; Fig.2 is a front elevation of a portion of the Work board and the vertically adjustable front bar; Fig. 3 is a detail view; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view showing the means for preventing rotation of the front hook; Fig. 5 is a view showing the front. bar; and Fig. 6 is a view of a modified form of device eliminating the spring'in the forward hook member and arranging it in the form of a loop bent in the spring metal of the clamping member itself.

In the drawings, 1 represents a suitable frame supporting a work board 2 and a bed 192?. Serial No. 199,251.

3 padded and provided at the head end with a suitable neckband support 4 and clamp 5 of well known construction. The shirt may be also held at this end of the board by suitable shoulder clamps 6 ofany suitable construction. board are of any preferred construction and only enter into the combination as means for holding the neckband end of the shirt against the pull in the stretching or dressing of the shirt upon the board.

Cooperating with the bed 3 is the usual head 7 which swings scissors fashion down upon the board and up and back out of the way of the operator.

Secured to the work board 2, back of the bed, and under the head 7, when swung back, is a rod 8 threaded at both ends and provided with nut-s 9 engaging on each side of eyes 10 formed in supporting brackets 11. At the front of the work board is another U-shaped bar 12 having its ends projected through the board, threaded and provided with suitable nuts 13 for holding it-in any suitable posit-ion. The adjustable arrangement of the front bar permitsthe operator to move it up and down so that the hook, through its spring 23, will exert the proper tension upon the clamping band. The bars 8 and 12 serve to support and carry the tail clamping band and permit it to be adjusted The devices at this end of the along the board to suit varying lengths of garments or other articles operated upon. The bars 8 and 12 are of considerable length and extend beyond the right hand end of the board, as shown, so that the clamping device, to be described, may. be shifted beyond the end of the board out of the way and ready for use.

The clamping device comprises a rear block 14 provided with an enlarged eye 15 for receiving the rod 8 and riveted or otherwise secured to a springmetal band or strap' 16 of a suitable length to extend over the top and down just beyond the front edge of the board, as shown. The strap 16 is bent upwardly at points 16 beyond the side edges of the board whereby when it isflexed over the board and the work thereon it will have a substantially uniform clamping'a'ction on the work and will not tend to bulge up at the center. The opposite end of this strap, in one arrangement, is attached to a spring cylinder 17 threaded at its outer end to receive a cap 18 provided with a square opening 19. Projecting through the square opening 19 is the square shank 20 of a hook 21 adapted for engagement under the bar 12, as shown. The opposite end of this hook is provided with a thrust washer or abutment 22 adapted to be engaged by a spring 23 between it and the cap 18. The effect of the spring is to retract the hook and to render the entire tail clamp yieldingl extensible. To manipulate the device, the hook 21 and handle 24 are secured to an an le bracket 25 attached to the hook. This andle is arranged in handy position, which is substantially vertical, as shown, so that the operator may grasp it, extend the clamp and release the hook in removal ofthe clamp from the garment. It is also quite obvious that the handle is also very handily arranged for engagement of the hook with the bar 12. The square opening 19 and the similarly shaped shank 20 prevent the handle and hook from rotating out of operating position.

In use, the operator dresses the shirt u n the board with the neckband supporte in upstanding position and then proceeds to arrange the bosom in stretched condition ready for the ironing operation. To hold the bosom in the proper position the clamp is then employed. It is always ready for use and in place by reason of the opening 15 being larger than the rod 8 and the permanent attachment at this point preventing loss or displacement.

To apply the clamp, the operator places it over the stretched shirt, extends the hook so it will pass under the bar 12 and then perthe front end of the band and the front rod and com rising a casing member attached to the ban a hook having a polygonal shank entering a correspondingly shaped opening in said casing member for preventing the hook from turning, and spring means tending to retract said hook.

2. A pressing machine, a frame, a bed, a flexible stiff work clamping band, a rod at the rear of the bed and arranged in parallelism with the axis thereof, a permanent slidable connection between the rear end of the band and said rod, a front rod secured to the frame and in parallelism with the axis of the bed,

a removable hook connection between thesignatures.

ROBERT C. PAULY. STUART NOTTAGE.

mits it to retract into hooked position. If

the shirt is insufiiciently stretched the operator may pull it under the clamp and bring it to the desired arrangement.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, the extensible cylinder and spring arrangement is done away with and the spring metal band 16 is provided with a loop 26 beyond the front edge of the board for creating a spring tendency. In using this arrangement it is uite obvious that if the loop is set collapse as shown, that a pull may extend the loop, engage the hook and allow the parts to remain in yielding clamping condition.

What we claim is:

1. A pressing machine, a frame, a bed, a flexible stiff work clamping band, a rod at the rear of the bed and arranged in parallelism with the axis thereof, a permanent slidable connection between the rear end of the band and said rod, a front rod secured to the frame and in parallelism with the axis of the bed, a removable hook connection between the front end of the band and the front rod, and yielding hook mechanism between 

